Embodiments of the inventive concept relate generally to electronic devices. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concept relate to data storage devices and information processing systems incorporating such data storage devices.
Recent years have been marked by a continuing increase in the demand for digital storage media. To address this demand, researchers have developed and refined various types of data storage devices, each providing advantages and/or drawbacks compared with the others.
Hard disk drives (HDDs), for instance, tend to have relatively high storage density, high data transmission speed, fast data access time, and low cost. But they also tend to suffer from mechanical defects and high power consumption on account of their numerous moving parts.
Due to these and other shortcomings, there is an ongoing trend toward replacing HDDs with solid state disks (SSDs) incorporating nonvolatile memories such as flash memories. SSDs generally have fewer moving parts than HDDs, and therefore fewer mechanical defects and lower power consumption. The reduction of moving parts can also reduce latency and mechanical drive time compared with HDDs, allowing SSDs in some instances to execute read and write operations more quickly than HDDs. Moreover, SSDs can also reduce errors caused by latency and mechanical friction, improving reliability of read and write operations. Finally, SSDs tend to produce less heat and noise than HDDs and are largely resistant to external impact, making them attractive for portable devices.